U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,902 is directed to a device for selecting and separating defective printed products from a stream of printed products being conveyed through the device. A cam controlled roller lever having two arms serves to unlock a lever which activates a deflecting flap. Setting the regulating distances of such a roller lever and deflecting flap, however, is time consuming. Moreover, processing of webs passing through is not possible with such a device.
British Patent GB 2 061 235 is directed to a deflection arrangement for a stream of overlapping printed products. In this device a flap, which is arranged in a gap between conveyor belts, can be rotated up and down. In the up position, the flap deflects individual printed sheets onto a transport path situated below the flap. This device, however, only operates to deflect printed sheets.